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My PVC model rocket tooling


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Posted (edited)
Just show my tooling below, I use it to make the 13mm PVC Rocket engine.

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Edited by flyingaction
Posted
You realy use pvc for the casing? Thats just calling for a pipe bomb.
Posted (edited)

Usage video?

 

Yeah, I was hoping to see it fly.

 

Most people will scold you for using PVC as a motor casing, but I'm curious how well they fly.

Edited by ddewees
Posted

 

Yeah, I was hoping to see it fly.

 

Most people will scold you for using PVC as a motor casing, but I'm curious how well they fly.

I am not fond of PVC as a motor casing, but it is not uncommon with the HPR and sugar rocket folks. There is even a book out with the instructions for it. I do think the nozzle and fuel grain would be more prone to blowing out in addition to the shrapnel risk of PVC. Do share a video of the flight when it is launched. I would like to see it.

Posted

I've made PVC motors too, a while ago. they're good for the small size, like 13mm indeed. In those cases the nozzle will blow out first. (As long as you don't put weird stuff in your motors ofc).

Posted (edited)

Sorry that I'm a beginner, I just learn to make the model rocket from those "Home made PVC rocket" videos on the youtube.

I tested 20+ times to launch the PVC motor rockets, they were working fine, but on condition that I must pour the melting KNSU fuel, it's safe. If press the KNSU powder, maybe it will bomb.

 

Here's the flying video,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbhKDC18-J4

 

it was taken by iphone, the video size is small and after I uploaded it to Youtube, it looks blur, but you can see it was flying.

 

By the way, which material is recommended for a small rocket motor?

Edited by flyingaction
Posted

I'm new to rocketry too, but I think cardboard either parallel or spiral is recommended. Plus rocket tooling is commonly either 1/2'' or 3/4'' and 1/2'' pvc is .603 I think.

Posted (edited)

Some of the standard sizes look like they would accept standard tooling ok... well, 3lb and 6lb look pretty close.

Size O.D. I.D.

1/8" 0.405 0.249

1/4" 0.540 0.344

3/8" 0.675 0.473

1/2" 0.840 0.602

3/4" 1.050 0.804

1" 1.315 1.029

1-1/4" 1.660 1.360

1-1/2" 1.900 1.590

2" 2.375 2.047

2-1/2" 2.875 2.445

3" 3.500 3.042

Edited by ddewees
Posted

Dan, those are PVC dimensions?

 

Flyingaction, most people in the hobby of pyrotechnics do not use PVC. In amateur rocketry, it seems a lot more common. The main issue we have with it is that in the event of an explosion, it produces sharp shrapnel that can travel some distance. It does show up on x-rays, but that only makes it mildly less excruciating to get it removed. There is also the ecological impact of any unretrieved PVC casings. Convolute (parallel wound) paper tubes are usually considered to be the best options. They're strong, biodegradable, and in the event of an explosion they tend to produce confetti or lightweight pieces.

Posted

Dan, those are PVC dimensions?

 

Flyingaction, most people in the hobby of pyrotechnics do not use PVC. In amateur rocketry, it seems a lot more common. The main issue we have with it is that in the event of an explosion, it produces sharp shrapnel that can travel some distance. It does show up on x-rays, but that only makes it mildly less excruciating to get it removed. There is also the ecological impact of any unretrieved PVC casings. Convolute (parallel wound) paper tubes are usually considered to be the best options. They're strong, biodegradable, and in the event of an explosion they tend to produce confetti or lightweight pieces.

 

Thanks, I agree with you, especially "there is also the ecological impact of any unretrieved PVC casings.", That's important thing that I haven't considered.

Posted
It's funny how people get upset about seeing a piece of pvc on the ground, while there's miles of it buried under our feet. I guess the planet only gets destroyed if it's visible. :)
Posted

More than 4.8 million metric tons—that's about how much plastic waste gets dumped into the world's oceans from land each year. And this number is just a conservative estimate. Researchers believe the real amount could be as high as 12.7 million metric tons.Feb 12, 2015

Posted

It's funny how people get upset about seeing a piece of pvc on the ground, while there's miles of it buried under our feet. I guess the planet only gets destroyed if it's visible. :)

No dan, there is one big difference. The pvc (or hdpe more recently), is burried for a cause and needs replacement if it fails. Also since it is burried in a bed the biological impact isn't as big as often thought.

 

A pice of pvc or other plastic just thrown away is only a sign of being ignorrant or careless. Since it it exposed to wheather, UV rays it start to break apart and as it is on top of the earth all life is exposed to it.

 

Way more scary is the impact of plastics in the sea.

Posted

That is just man's way of marking it's territory, the more we leave behind the better our territory is marked.

Not too hard to figure out why other species have lasted millions of years while human civilizations come and go

like a bad case of indigestion.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Amateur rocketry brings the rocket motor back down to the ground and the casing is properly disposed of. They also use a whole lot less of them than we do. I launched 4 dozen rockets at PGI, that would be a whole lot of plastic supports and perhaps a dozen rocket bodies.

 

Amateur rockets are also launched from greater distances normally. It is common to see a person at the PGI rocket line be 20' away from a CATO with no injury.

 

Can you use PVC? Sure, its cheap and works well with known motors. Experimental motors? Not a good idea.

Posted

That is just man's way of marking it's territory, the more we leave behind the better our territory is marked.

Not too hard to figure out why other species have lasted millions of years while human civilizations come and go

like a bad case of indigestion.

I hate anything plastic with a passion. Big corporations gut the earth and start wars to sustain the addiction we have for oil to make it, then process it into something that the good earth cannot take back and nourish itself.

Posted

I hate anything plastic with a passion. Big corporations gut the earth and start wars to sustain the addiction we have for oil to make it, then process it into something that the good earth cannot take back and nourish itself.

 

It's OK Shunt, when she is done playing with us, she will unleash a "super bug" and kill us all in a week...

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